Bringing the modern beauty of Kandy

Demi HEWAMANNA

Designed by the ever so famous architect of macular clean cut creativity of simple yet elegant beauty – Channa Daswatte, the Cinnamon Citadel Kandy has got a brand new facelift from its previous name – Chaaya Citadel.

The pool area with its very wet look

The bedroom

Our host for the weekend Shafiya Careem took three media personnel to this luxurious hidden beauty in the golden city of Kandy, to give us a more close up look on the changes made to this hotel which was built in 1983.

The journey towards the Kandy city was truly a joy-ride when you have people who share so much in common with music, nature, travel and of course love for the job. Leaving the noisy, busy and somewhat messy week behind and driving to the hill country is a great stress reliever. Even being a Sunday, you can see so much life in the towns you pass by.

People bringing out the goods of what their town is famous for, setting up little vendor stalls by the roadside and waving at each passing vehicle to stop and check out their products and make sale to, shows that their life will always be busy but never dull. Even the children getting in their Sunday best to go to Church, Daham Pasal or just meeting friends for a game of cricket or chit chat is done with so much joy and passion.

As we entered the Kandy town, we got into a little traffic jam (just when we thought we were getting out of the city of traffic – Colombo) and children from O/L, A/L classes were just pouring into the streets after their classes grabbing the last laughs before heading home.

After 15 minutes, we managed to squeeze out of the traffic and reach our destination. As we pulled up at the reception, we were immediately greeted by the friendliest ‘Ayubowan’ from the staff and were treated to cold towels to refresh ourselves and some delicious fresh Papaya and Passion fruit juice. When you enter the hotel, you are mesmerized by the whiteness of the place and instantly you will wonder whether you are in a hotel in Kandy. Usually one would see the decorations of the old kings, paintings of temples and culture at the entrance but here, it was totally something else.

We were introduced to the charming Front Office Manager Fowme Ibrahim who got us checked into our rooms. As we walked to our rooms passing the hallways, I realized that the architect had done real justice to the place with the very nature friendly colours he chose for the walls and the doors.

Luckily all four of us, were on the same floor and one room apart and truly did enjoy the rooms. From the 26 deluxe rooms, I got the chance to have one all for myself (a true delight). From the lamp shades, to the colour of the furniture and linen, you could feel and see the beauty of the Kandyan colours surrounding you. When peeka-booing from the balcony, you are given an amazing view of the Mahaweli River (though covered a little by the trees from my room and muddy because of the rain that was pouring down the whole day) and lush tall green trees that is picturesque.

Then, entering the bathroom (people who simply love bathrooms and treat it like just like any other room in the house), would love this bathroom. Paired with black and white (once again simple beauty), one wouldn’t mind having it as a show-piece of the place.

Sumith and Fowme

Chef Premaratne

A knock on the door reminded me that it was lunch time, and I soon joined my friends at the hallway and headed up to the Panaroma restaurant located above the lobby. Each and every staff member greeted us with an Ayubowan.

As were chose a nice cozy spot, we got the chance to meet and talk to the Executive Chef Raminda Premaratne who said that most of the cuisine served are a blend for the foreign palate as most of them are not used to the spiciness in the cuisine (a big disappointment for me as I love spicy).

There is a mixture of Sri Lankan and Western cuisine at the buffet and other specialties if an order is made. Soon after lunch, we headed down towards the lobby bar to have a chat with Fowme and F&B Manager Sumith Devita Gedera. “This was built in the year 1983 and was formerly the Dunuvila Wallauwa (the ancestral home of the Dunivila family who was one of the King’s Ministers).

John Keells took it over as a circuit bungalow and the place was once featured in the movie ‘Devana Gamage’”, Fowme went on to say. In 1996, the hotel which was known as just ‘Citadel’ got additional 26 rooms and in 2008 fell under the umbrella of Chaaya and then in 2012 Cinnamon. After been rebranded under Cinnamon, the hotel was closed for 6 months for a full refurbishment and on September 29 it opened its door to the public.

There are altogether 26 deluxe and 93 superior rooms. “We have two restaurants; one is the Panaroma that was expanded to the terrace and can accommodate around 250 guests that serves international buffets and a mixture of many things as well. Then there is Café C, which is the only fine dining restaurant serving a-la-carte menu. And to the people who want to stay in all day can order room service as well”, Fowme added.

“We are targeting the leisure group section and we organize excursions to the Pinnawala Elephant orphanage, Udawatte Kale for nature walks and also boat rides. Most of the guests we have are from UK, Saudi Arabia, France, Russians and also Sri Lankans who have repeatedly come back to the hotel many times.

“We also do promotions, high tea for the Citadel Club members and theme nights with entertainment from Tony Ayesha, a saxophonist and also a pianist who plays from 5pm to 7pm.

We also have happy hour from 6.30to 7.30. And the Club members are opened to many treats from the hotel and the sister hotels of John Keells such as 15 to 20 percent discounts and other things”, Fowme stated. “Our main passion is to give a good journey and a customer satisfactory stay for our guests”, General Manager Arosha Pananwala said. And right after the refurbishment we consider to be the leading hotel in Kandy, especially when we look at the customer feed back and reviews on Trip Advisor and also the F&B offerings.

“I was at the hotel four years ago and then went to Maldives working at the sister hotels of John Keells and have been with the JKH for 21 years.

We are preparing ourselves for the Green Globe Certification right now and we have set up a bio-gas plant, garbage sorting and also have sensor taps that will be active in the coming months”, Arosha concluded in saying. Cinnamon Citadel Kandy, nestled in the hills of Sri Lanka, has received three ISO certifications - ISO 22000; 2005 for Food Safety Management, ISO 14001 for its environment and OHSAS 18001 for occupational health and safety.

From the usual going Down South for the long weekend, heading towards the hill country is also pleasant for many reasons – you feel peace just staring out to the river or the green and even the mountains that hold many stories to listen if you close your eyes and just breathe in the fresh air.